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Report: Thousands Wrongly on Terror List
The list has contained the names of Bolivia's President Evo Morales and Nabih Berri, Lebanon's parliamentary speaker, according to a report by CBS' "60 Minutes," to be broadcast Sunday.
Richard Kopel, acting director of the screening center, said in a statement that Morales and Berri are not on the current no-fly list. He did not address whether they were in the past, noting only that the list changes daily.
  A National Guard troop walks through a terminal at Logan International Airport in Boston in this August file photo. A government report said thousands of people have been mistakenly linked to names on terror watch lists when they crossed the border, boarded commercial airliners or were stopped for traffic violations. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, FILE) (Chitose Suzuki - AP) 
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Two international flights _ in December 2004 and May 2005 _ were diverted because passenger were misidentified as on the no-fly list.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that watch lists aren't perfect.
"The watch list was the first stage of building a security net for the aviation system," Chertoff said.
He said an agreement reached Friday between the U.S. and the European Union would help prevent people from being misidentified.
The agreement calls for airlines to submit 34 pieces of data _ including names, addresses and credit card details _ about passengers flying from Europe to the United States.
The report said agencies are working to minimize the effect on people who are frequently misidentified.
TSA puts people on a special list of names that have been checked and cleared after they've complained to a call center and provided the agency more identification.
Customs annotates its database with a note that certain people shouldn't be stopped. As of September 2006, Customs annotated more than 10,300 names. Customs also gives preapproved low-risk travelers ID cards that provide expedited processing.
Customs acknowledged to the GAO that it needs to do a better job of providing guidance for their redress procedures for people who believe they've been misidentified.
The Justice Department is leading an effort to make sure that all agencies formally document opportunities for redress and that agency responsibilities are clear, the report said.
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To see the GAO report: http:/
